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Cruciatus Curse

Effect

Excruciating pain[1], insanity if victim is subjected for too long.[1][3]

"Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do anything to defend himself, before he could even move, he had been hit again by the Cruciatus curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no longer knew where he was... white-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, his head was surely going to burst with pain; he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life - "

-Harry Potter under the effects of the curse

The Cruciatus Curse ( Crucio), also known as the Torture Curse, was a tool of the Dark Arts and one of the three Unforgivable Curses. It was one of the most powerful and sinister spells known to Wizardkind. When cast successfully the curse inflicted intense, excruciating pain on the victim. The penalty for use of this curse on another human being was a life sentence in Azkaban, unless the caster did so under the influence of the Imperius Curse.

Considering that the curse does not physically harm the victim, it was possible that it only stimulated pain receptors. The two most well-known victims of this curse are former Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom: the Longbottoms were tortured into insanity with it by Death Eaters Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jnr.

Middle Ages

The Cruciatus Curse was invented during the early Middle Ages, by dark witches or wizards. The curse was created for torture purposes but has also been used effectively in duels. According to Barty Crouch Jnr, the curse was once very popular.

After the Wizards' Council was reformed into the Ministry of Magic tighter restrictions were placed on the use of certain kinds of magic. The Cruciatus Curse was deemed by the Ministry to be dark magic, and, along with the Imperius and Killing curses, were declared " unforgivable" in 1717. The use of any of these three curses on a fellow human being would result in a life sentence in Azkaban (unless there was sufficient evidence that the caster did so under the influence of the Imperius Curse or for other defensible reasons)

Many Secret Keepers in the past have been subjected to the Cruciatus and Imperius Curses in an attempt to learn the secrets they keep, but to no avail as the Keeper must reveal it willingly.

First Wizarding War

During the First Wizarding War, when Barty Crouch Snr was in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he fought violence with violence and legalised the three Unforgivable Curses for Aurors against the Death Eaters in order to win the war. This was immediately repealed once the war was over, as it was no longer necessary.

Shortly after Voldemort's defeat, four Death Eaters - three Lestranges: Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan; along with Barty Crouch Jnr - captured the Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom and tortured the two with the Cruciatus Curse for information on Voldemort's whereabouts. The repeated and prolonged usage of the curse caused the couple to become insane and the four to be captured and tried in front of the Council of Magical Law. All of them were found guilty and sentenced to life in Azkaban. This act was considered to be one of the most heinous and infuriating attacks in modern history.

Between the wars

"The Cruciatus Curse might loosen your tongue."

-Dolores threatening Harry Potter with the curse

Despite the repeal of the curse's legal usage, in the 1994-1995 school year, Barty Crouch Jnr, under the disguise of Alastor Moody, showed these three curses to his fourth year classes on spiders despite the Ministry's disapproval. However, since the use of the curse was illegal only on a fellow human being, the demonstration of the curses on the spider may have been within legal boundaries.

Dolores Umbridge, in a last-ditch effort to draw information from Harry Potter, almost used the curse on him, certain in the belief that she would not be called upon to answer for it due to the only witnesses to the act being Harry and his closest friends (and the present Slytherin students would not support Harry in any way, Draco Malfoy was even looking eagerly to see it occur), and that she would be able to avoid punishment for the curse due to the political climate either way. However, she was dissuaded from using the curse by Hermione Granger, who gave Umbridge a false story in order to save Harry.

When Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange killed Harry's godfather Sirius Black, Harry chased down Bellatrix and performed the curse on her out of rage. However, it was performed unsuccessfully as Harry was doing it with "righteous anger" and couldn't muster the will to actually cause her harm.

Second Wizarding War

"Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife! What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"

-Overheard parts of Bellatrix's interrogation of Hermione Granger

In 1997 Draco Malfoy, in a fit of rage and recklessness, attempted it on an eavesdropping Harry and later in the same year, Harry attempted to use it on Severus Snape during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower but was prevented from uttering the whole incantation due to Snape's use of Legilimency.

When Lord Voldemort took over the Ministry, the three curses were once again legalised: this time every wizard and witch had the right to use them as they please. In fact, they were practised in Hogwarts as part of the curriculum of Dark Arts class under the tutelage of Professor Amycus Carrow: students were required to practise the Cruciatus Curse on other students who earned detention, and the Carrow siblings used it to punish students as they see fit.

Hermione Granger had this curse used on her by Bellatrix Lestrange during her interrogation at Malfoy Manor in March of 1998. Harry Potter managed to successfully use it on Amycus Carrow without legal consequences as well as a result of this legalisation. After Voldemort's death and the revolutionising of the Ministry under new Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt, the three curses were once again forbidden and their original penalties restored.

Harry Potter had a vision of Lord Voldemort ordering Draco Malfoy to use the curse on Thorfinn Rowle after he and Antonin Dolohov failed to capture Harry at Tottenham Court Road. Although he saw nothing of Dolohov's punishment, Narcissa Malfoy later mentioned " what he did to Rowle and Dolohov" when she was afraid to contact Voldemort.

"It was pain beyond anything Harry had ever experienced; his very bones were on fire; his head was surely splitting along his scar... he wanted it to end... to black out... to die."

-Description of the pain one feels while under the Curse

The pain caused by the Cruciatus Curse is described by Harry Potter as being worse than " one thousand white-hot knives, boring into the skin" and beyond what most people will ever experience. The sensation of the curse is so intense that the person under the effects wishes for unconsciousness and even death, as a means of escaping the searing pain.

This pain can cause permanent mental injury if exposed to for a prolonged time, as in the case of the aforementioned Longbottoms, who spent the rest of their lives in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries because of the trauma the curse caused. This incident was considered one of the most horrific fates for the victim, even worse than death. Presumably, such permanent effects are not uncommon if the victim is exposed to a particularly intense curse for a long period of time.

As Memory Charms can be broken through torture, the Cruciatus Curse is capable of such a feat, though it requires a certain level of exposure in time and intensity to break through it. Bertha Jorkins suffered such a trial, and the end results was that both her body and mind was damaged beyond repair.

Although it is possible to use the curse on Secret Keepers to inflict pain on them, it is impossible to use it to force the secret out of them, as it must be done on the Keeper's free will.

If the curse hits an inanimate object, it may cause it to shatter instead.

Performance

"You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I?"

-Bellatrix Lestrange's instructions on how to use an Unforgivable Curse

To successfully perform this curse, merely uttering the incantation was not enough; the wizard or witch must possess a deep desire to cause the victim pain and to take pleasure in their suffering. For example, despite being furious with Bellatrix Lestrange for her murder of his godfather in 1996, Harry Potter was only able to cause her a brief moment of pain with the Cruciatus Curse because he used it in " righteous anger," though he was still able to knock her off of her feet with it.

Harry performed it more effectively in 1998 on Amycus Carrow, who spat in Minerva McGonagall's face. Amycus was thrown into the air and knocked unconscious. This suggests that although Harry's curse was intense, he still lacked the fundamental sadism to inflict prolonged, excruciating pain with it. On the other hand, due to Bellatrix being a witch with profound sadistic intents and an utter lack of conscience, she was able to cast the curse with an almost daunting potency, and seemingly had an affinity to it. In such cases, it becomes evident that the curse's potency and results vary from caster to caster and its effects are expected to be rendered relatively ineffective when used by either those who are inexperienced or timid.

Once cast, there was no spell that can defend against the Cruciatus Curse. However, there were still evasive options available against it. The spell can be dodged by hiding behind a solid object, and a particularly strong-willed wizard can merely resist the pain until the spell is lifted, as Harry Potter refused to plea to Voldemort when being tortured by this curse and Hermione Granger managed to lie to Bellatrix Lestrange through the curse (though, as noted above, prolonged exposure can cause permanent mental damage). Another option was to interrupt the caster before they can finish speaking the incantation, as Severus Snape did to great effect against Harry Potter in 1997 by using Legilimency to anticipate the spells he would use. Furthermore, like with the Killing Curse, it could also be intercepted with a few other powerful fast spells.

Should the caster be using the Elder Wand, or actually any wand, without winning its allegiance, to cast the curse onto its true master, the wand will refuse to inflict any pain onto its master. However, there would still be a certain level of impact that could send the body flying.

The most powerful Shield Charms were, in combination with several other protective enchantments, capable of preventing the curse.

Although the main purpose of the Cruciatus Curse is to torture, it cannot be used to break through the defences set by the Fidelius Charm, as the secret must be revealed willingly and voluntarily. Also, if the victim does not possess the desired information (such as Alice and Frank Longbottom), then the usage of the curse serves little to no purpose in information gathering.

Applications

As its title of an 'unforgivable curse' suggests, the Cruciatus Curse has only very limited practical uses.

Besides its basic use to sadistically inflicting pain, the curse was most popularly applied as a method of punishment and a method of interrogation. The advent of truth serums rendered the Cruciatus Curse as obsolete and a generally impractical method for this specific purpose. However, should truth serums be not available, the interrogator may opt to use the Torture Curse instead. Compared with the use of truth serums, the Cruciatus Curse is much less efficient, as the person being interrogated has a high risk of falsely confessing in order to relieve their suffering under the spell, regardless whether they actually hold the information the interrogator wishes to seek and extract. As the curse cannot force a Secret Keeper to divulge the hidden information, it is essentially useless in that regard, despite many in the past have been subjected to such an attempt to extract the knowledge.

The curse could be used effectively in a duel, inflicting tremendous pain onto the opponent, disabling them from countering so long as they maintain the curse's effects.

"Harry shouted, " Crucio! " The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor."

-Harry Potter's use of the curse before the Battle of Hogwarts

Successful use

Aberforth Dumbledore

Retaliation for criticising his plans.

Bartemius Crouch, Jnr

Used to gain information about Lord Voldemort's whereabouts. Tortured into insanity. Permanent residents at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Bellatrix Lestrange

18 June, 1996

Battle of the Department of Mysteries presumably to injure/kill/ insult Neville to join his parents' fate.

March, 1998

Torture tactic concerning the Sword of Gryffindor.

Merula Snyde

1989

To acomplish The Cabal's orders of killing one of Jacob's sibling's friends before the end of the year; however, she was stopped by Jacob' sibling and other students before she accomplished the task.

Lord Voldemort

Summer 1994

To break the memory charm cast on her by Barty Crouch Snr so as to gain information about the Triwizard Tournament and the Quidditch World Cup; Bertha was damaged beyond repair as a result.

Little Hangleton graveyard, twice during a duel.

Avery

24 June, 1995

Punishment also following false information concerning his prophecy.

Late May 1995

As punishment for allowing Barty Crouch Snr to escape.

To give information about Voldemort's wand, and the effects Harry's wand had on Lucius Malfoy's.

Bartemius Crouch Jnr

5 September, 1994

Demonstrated the curse's effects during Defence Against the Dark Arts class, while impersonating Alastor Moody.

Viktor Krum

24 June, 1995

During the Triwizard Tournament, Third Task, while under the Imperius Curse by Barty Crouch Jnr disguised as Alastor Moody.

Draco Malfoy

Under Voldemort's orders, as punishment for letting Harry Potter escape from Tottenham Court Road.

Alecto Carrow

1997/1998

Punishment for freeing a first-year student from detention.

Carrows, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle

Punishment for disobedience.

Harry Potter

Used it to torture after he spat in McGonagall's face, completely incapacitating him.

Scorpius Malfoy

2020

Delphini used this spell three times on Scorpius in 2020, in an attempt to make him do what she wanted.

Attempted use

Caster(s)

Victim(s)

Date

Notes

Dolores Umbridge

Harry Potter

18 June, 1996

Headmistress Dolores Umbridge attempted to use the curse against Harry as an interrogation tactic, but Hermione Granger interrupted her incantation.[3]

Bellatrix Lestrange

After failing to successfully curse Bellatrix with the Cruciatus curse out of righteous anger for murdering Sirius Black, she then decided to teach Harry a lesson of actually meaning to cause harm by her attempting the same curse on him, only for him to dodge it.

Draco Malfoy

Early May, 1997

Draco attempted the curse when Harry stumbled upon him in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, but was interrupted when Harry attacked him with Sectumsempra.

Vincent Crabbe

2 May, 1998

During a skirmish in the Room of Requirement. Harry dodged the curse, and its force hit a stone bust of a warlock instead.[7]

Lord Voldemort

2 May, 1998

During the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort used the Cruciatus Curse on what he believed to be Harry Potter's dead body as a way of dishonouring it and to show he had won. Harry felt no pain because the wand Voldemort used, the Elder Wand, refused to harm its true master. However, Harry's body was tossed around by the force of the spell.[7]

Harry Potter

Bellatrix Lestrange

18 June, 1996

As mentioned above, Harry attempted to use this curse against Bellatrix after she murdered his godfather, Sirius Black. Though the curse gave her a brief moment of terrible pain, it did not cause the excruciating, drawn-out pain it is meant to give (though it did also knock her off her feet).[3]

Severus Snape

30 June, 1997

Following Professor Snape killing Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Harry pursued him and tried to curse him, but Snape blocked it, citing Harry's inferior skills in Occlumency. All Harry had managed to get out was the first syllable of the incantation.[13]

Amycus Carrow

Ginny Weasley

30 June, 1997

During the Battle of the Astronomy Tower; through the assistance of Felix Felicis, Ginny dodged multiple attempts.[13]

Death Eaters

Various

1997-1998

Many people were on the run with Snatchers and Death Eaters chasing them, Harry, Ron, and Hermione broke into Gringotts Wizarding Bank and were chased by guards, a great battle took place at Hogwarts Castle.

Snatchers

1997-1998

1997-1998

Possible use

Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, or Thorfinn Rowle

Harry Potter

30 June, 1997

As Harry Potter chased Severus Snape away from Hogwarts at the end of the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, he was hit from behind by a curse cast by one of the Death Eaters who escaped the battle, which caused him sharp pain. Although no incantation was heard, he fell to the ground, screaming, and momentarily lost track of what was going on. These harmful effects make it likely that he was attacked with the Cruciatus Curse.

Death Eaters

Luna Lovegood

1997-1998

Since Luna was held prisoner at Malfoy Manor for months, it is possible she was also tortured with it.

Xenophilius Lovegood

30 December, 1997

When Harry, Ron and Hermione visited Xenophilius at his home in order to know the legend of the Deathly Hallows, Xenophilius alerted Death Eaters about Harry's presence. Selwyn, suspicious that the wizard had been lying, beat up Lovegood and tortured him.

Lord Voldemort

Malfoys and Bellatrix Lestrange

March, 1998

After Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other prisoners escaped from Malfoy Manor, Harry had a vision of Voldemort punishing Bellatrix and the Malfoys, but whether he used the Cruciatus Curse was not mentioned.

Crucio means 'I torture'. Cruciatus takes its name from the Latin word for "pain" or "torture," the root of which can be seen in other words such as "excruciating" and "crucifixion."

Behind the scenes

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Harry Potter casts this spell on Bellatrix Lestrange, a ball of red light is fired from the tip of his wand, most likely because his spell was cast with "righteous anger", not outright sadism, cruelty or pure malice. The spell still had enough force to knock Lestrange off her feet.

In the console versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game), the cutscene where Umbridge is taken into the Forbidden Forest, she uses this curse instead of the Incarcerous Spell on a Centaur, and it looks like a flash of green light that strikes the Centaur. However, in the scene where Harry chases Bellatrix through the Ministry, he casts it and it looks like the Disarming Charm (which was a yellowish-white in colour) and it blasted her off her feet.

Severus Snape once asserted Harry Potter had neither the nerves nor the skill to perform Unforgivable Curses. However, less than a year later, Harry succeeded in cursing Amycus Carrow. - This move was met with criticism by some fans, who felt that Harry had sunk to the same level as his enemies in using it in such a manner. J.K. Rowling countered such criticism by asserting that "Harry is not, and never has been, a saint", and that he has flaws of character like everybody else.

In the the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, instead of using three spiders to demonstrate the Unforgivable Curses, Barty Crouch Jnr uses one Amblypygi.

Also in the film adaption of Goblet of Fire, when Voldemort casts the curse on Harry Potter, a sound resembling electricity or lightning can be heard in the background. It is possible that one of the feelings of pain caused by the curse could be similar to that of electrocution.

In the original script of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter said "Cruciatus" while battling Severus Snape in Hogwarts grounds instead of using the real incantation which is "Crucio".

In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, only Dark Wizards, including Peter Pettigrew, Lord Voldemort, and Barty Crouch Jnr can use Dark Magic, which consists of the Killing Curse (Peter Pettigrew is the only LEGO Dark Wizard who can't use Avada Kedavra) and the Cruciatus Curse. Whenever a Dark Wizard uses the Levitation Charm on a person, it instead changes to the Cruciatus Curse. When this is used, the pink light of the Levitation Charm is missing when targeting a person, but replaced by a blood red. the victim hovers several feet off the ground, and purple lights emit from their joints. After a few seconds, they die.

In Harry Potter for Kinect Voldemort can use this spell against Harry in the final battle during Voldemort's Last Stand as they engage in a normal duel.

As the Cruciatus Curse leaves no visible mark on the body of the victim, it is reasonable to assume that the curse, rather than inflicting pain through injury, instead somehow magically triggers a stimulus in the pain centre of the brain of the victim. The fact that the minds of Frank and Alice Longbottom 'cracked' after enduring it a long time and they were rendered insane, support this theory.

In an early draft of the fifth film, Professor Umbridge actually uses the Cruciatus Curse on Harry Potter, rather than making as if to do so before being cut off by Hermione Granger.

Appearances

Notes and references

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The Cruciatus Curse (Crucio), also known as the Torture Curse,4 was a tool of the Dark Arts and one of the three Unforgivable Curses. It was one of the most powerful and sinister spells known to Wizardkind. When cast successfully the curse inflicted intense, excruciating pain on the victim.

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"The term 'pure-blood' refers to a family or individual without Muggle (non-magic) blood. The concept is generally associated with Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, whose aversion to teaching anybody of Muggle parentage eventually led to a breach with his three fellow founders, and his resignation from the school."

-Where the term 'pure-blood' originated from[src]

Pure-blood is the term for wizarding families who claim to have no Muggles or Muggle-borns in their family tree; however, when traced back far enough, nearly every family tree had some non-magical ancestors.[1][2][3] Most wizards and witches consider an individual to be a pure-blood if his or her parents and grandparents were not Muggles or Muggle-born.[4]

By 1995, the number of pure-blood families were declining. Most pure-blood families were related by then in an effort, by some, to retain their status by marrying only other pure-blood families, but it had eventually led to inbreeding. While some families, such as the Malfoys, had allowed for marrying half-bloods, others such as the Gaunts, Lestranges, and Blacks, required their family to only marry pure-blood individuals, or those with no Muggle or Muggle-born ancestors.[2][1] This refusal of marrying Muggles or Muggle-borns had led to difficulty in propagating their families.[1]

Overview

"The pure-blood families are all interrelated. If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods, your choice is very limited; there are hardly any of us left."

-Sirius Black's overview of blood purity[src]

Pure-blood individuals are people who have no Muggles or Muggle-borns as parents or grandparents.[4] Traditionalist pure-bloods like to keep the generations "pure" by breeding with other pure-bloods and are generally the ones who use the term ' Mudblood', a term considered derogatory by the wizarding world. Families of pure-blood status often avoid marrying their heirs off to Muggle-Borns and Half-Bloods, believing that the next generation could lose their capability to perform magic. Mudblood means Muggle-born, suggesting they have dirty blood and thus have no right to be a witch/wizard. Pure-bloods who do not share these prejudices are considered "blood traitors" by the ones that do.

In the 1930s, a wizard, commonly believed to be Cantankerus Nott, wrote the Pure-Blood Directory featuring twenty-eight families he believed to be truly pure-blooded, though many objected to this designation.[5]

Maintaining "purity"

"So-called pure-blood families maintain their alleged purity by disowning, banishing, or lying about Muggles or Muggle-borns on their family trees. Then they attempt to foist their hypocrisy upon the rest of us by asking us to ban works dealing with the truths they deny. There is not a witch or wizard in existence whose blood has not mingled with that of Muggles..."

-Pure-blood wizards are not so pure[src]

Some pure-blood families can trace their pure-blood status through many generations of magical ancestors and deny ever having any Muggles within the family, such as the House of Black, the motto of which is "Toujours pur", meaning "Always (or Still) Pure".[6][7] However, the truth is that if they ever did exist in the past, true pure-blood wizards and witches do not exist today. They merely erase Squibs, Muggle-borns, and Muggles from their family trees.[1]

Half-bloods who consider blood purity very important also hide their Muggle ancestry, clinging to the magical heritage they do have.[8] Many Death Eaters are believed to have done this, and their leader himself took on the name Lord Voldemort out of a desire to not keep the name of his " filthy Muggle father".[9] It is likely that Voldemort told his followers he was a pure-blood, or that most of the Death Eaters knew better than to question Riddle's blood status, given the reaction of Bellatrix Lestrange to Harry's "accusation" that he was in fact a half-blood.[10]

Many pure-blood families, such as the Blacks and Gaunts, practise marrying cousins in order to maintain their pure-blood status, and disown any members who marry someone who is not a pure-blood.[11] This practice has been known to cause problems as families often become inbred because of this; for example, the Gaunts showed signs of violent tendencies, mental instability, and being enfeebled.[12][2] The number of pure-bloods has diminished over time because of said inbreeding.[1]

Attitude

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families."

-Draco Malfoy's prejudice concerning Muggle-borns[src]

Some pure-bloods regard themselves as superior to those witches and wizards who are born to Muggles and half-bloods. They believe that Muggles are little more than animals and that Muggle-borns, whom they derisively call ' Mudbloods', are second-class citizens, inferior and unworthy of being allowed to practise magic. Many also discriminate against half-breeds, giants, werewolves and magical creatures.

Salazar Slytherin believed that only pure-bloods should be allowed to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and educated in magic; this was the cause of his conflict with the other Founders and his leaving the school. However, he left behind the Chamber of Secrets in the hope that one day his heir would open the Chamber and release the basilisk within to target Muggle-born students. Tom Riddle was this heir, and the basilisk petrified several Muggle-born students in 1943 and the 1992-1993 school year and managed to kill one student, Myrtle Warren, in 1943.[9]

Riddle, later known as Lord Voldemort, continued his persecution of those who were not pure-bloods (ironically being a half-blood himself) with his followers, the Death Eaters. They strove to place pure-bloods in control of the wizarding world and to rid it of Muggle-borns. When Voldemort succeeded in taking over the Ministry of Magic during the height of the Second Wizarding War, his followers created the Muggle-Born Registration Commission in order to weed Muggle-borns out of the population and send them to Azkaban for allegedly stealing magic. Pure-bloods were also blatantly favoured within the Ministry and, to a lesser extent, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, although half-blood was sufficient to avoid prosecution.[13]

However, there are pure-bloods who do not have these beliefs, and instead treat all magical people and Muggles as equals. These pure-blood folk are often labelled " blood traitors" by the more fanatical pure-bloods.[9]

Known pure-blood families

Pure-blood family

Current status

Known pure-blood members

Pure-blood in the 1930s[5]
Extant at least in female line

Abbott, Gifford Abbott

Unknown, possibly extinct

Avery Snr, Avery Jnr

Black

[5]

Extant only in female line

Alexia Walkin Black,

[7] Alphard Black,[14] Andromeda Tonks née Black,[15] Arcturus Black I[7] Arcturus Black II,[7], Arcturus Black III,[7] Bellatrix Lestrange née Black,[7] Belvina Burke née Black,[7] Callidora Longbottom née Black,[7] Cassiopeia Black,[7] Cedrella Weasley née Black[16] Charis Crouch née Black,[7] Cygnus Black I[7], Cygnus Black II,[7] Cygnus Black III,[7] Dorea Potter née Black,[7] Druella Black née Rosier,[7] Eduardus Limette Black,[17] Ella Black née Max,[7] Elladora Black,[7] Hesper Black née Gamp,[7] Hesper Black,[7] Iola Hitchens née Black,[18] Irma Black née Crabbe[7] Lucretia Prewett née Black,[7] Lycoris Black,[7] Lysandra Black née Yaxley,[7] Misapinoa Blishwick née Black,[7] Narcissa Malfoy née Black,[7], Orion Black[6], Phineas Nigellus Black,[7] Phineas Black,[19] Pollux Black,[7] Phoebe Black,[7] Regulus Black I,[7] Regulus Arcturus Black,[7] Sirius Black I,[7] Sirius Black II,[7] Sirius Black III,[20] Ursula Black née Flint,[7] Violetta Black née Bulstrode,[7] Walburga Black[7]

Blishwick (likely)[21]

Unknown, possibly extinct

Jimbo Blishwick,

[7] Misapinoa Blishswick née Black[7]

Brown[22]

Extant, but likely no longer pure-blood[24]

Unknown, possibly extant in female line

Belvina Burke née Black,

[7] Caractacus Burke, Elizabeth Burke, Herbert Burke[7]

Possibly extinct in male line,[25] Extant in female line[26]

Irma Black née Crabbe,

[7] Vincent Crabbe[27]

Extinct[28]

Bartemius Crouch Snr, Bartemius Crouch Jnr, Caspar Crouch,[7] Caspar Crouch's son,[6] Caspar Crouch's daughters,[6] Charis Crouch née Black[7]

Unknown, possibly extant

Hector Fawley

Extant

Marcus Flint, Ursula Black née Flint[7]

Unknown

Hesper Black née Gamp

[7], Ulick Gamp

Extant only in female line but no longer pure-blood[29]

Corvinus Gaunt,

[30] Gormlaith Gaunt,[31] Marvolo Gaunt,[30] Merope Riddle née Gaunt,[30] Morfin Gaunt,[30] Rionach Sayre née Gaunt[31]

Greengrass

Astoria Malfoy née Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass

Kama

Laurena Kama, Mustafa Kama, Yusuf Kama

Lestrange

Bellatrix Lestrange née Black, Corvus Lestrange (I), Corvus Lestrange (II), Corvus Lestrange (III), Corvus Lestrange (IV), Eglantine Lestrange, F. Lestrange, Lestrange, Leta Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Radolphus Lestrange, R. Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange

Longbottom

Extant, but no longer all pure-blood

Algie Longbottom, Alice Longbottom, Augusta Longbottom, Callidora Longbottom née Black, Enid Longbottom, Frank Longbottom, Harfang Longbottom, Harfang Longbottom's son, Harfang Longbottom's daughter, Neville Longbottom, Neville Longbottom's grandfather[32]

Macmillan

Ernie Macmillan, Melania Black née Macmillan

Malfoy

Abraxas Malfoy, Armand Malfoy, Astoria Malfoy née Greengrass, Brutus Malfoy, Draco Lucius Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy I, Lucius Malfoy II, Narcissa Malfoy née Black, Nicholas Malfoy, Septimus Malfoy, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy

Nott

Extant

Cantankerus Nott, Theodore Nott[33][34]

Ollivander

Extant, but no longer pure-blood

Gervaise Ollivander, Gerbold Ollivander, Geraint Ollivander

Extant only in female line

Antioch Peverell, Cadmus Peverell, Ignotus Peverell, Ignotus Peverell's son, Iolanthe Potter née Peverell

Potter

Extant, but no longer pure-blood[4][36]

Abraham Potter, Charlus Potter, Dorea Potter née Black, Euphemia Potter, Fleamont Potter, Ginevra Molly Potter née Weasley, Hardwin Potter, Henry Potter, Iolanthe Potter née Peverell, James Potter I, Mr Potter, Mrs Potter née Fleamont, Ralston Potter

Prewett

Extant only in female line

Fabian Prewett, Gideon Prewett, Ignatius Prewett, Lucretia Prewett née Black, Molly Weasley née Prewett, Mr Prewett, Mrs Prewett

Prince

Most likely extinct[37]

Eileen Snape née Prince

Rosier

Extant (at least in female line)

Druella Black née Rosier, Evan Rosier, Felix Rosier, Minette Lestrange née Rosier, Mr Rosier, Vinda Rosier

Rowle

Unknown, possibly extinct

Damocles Rowle, Euphemia Rowle, Thorfinn Rowle

Sayre

Possibly extant but no longer pure-blood

Rionach Sayre née Gaunt, Isolt Sayre, William Sayre

Selwyn

Unknown

Selwyn, Dolores Jane Umbridge (claimed[38])

Shafiq

Extant in the early 1930s

Shafiq (1920s)

Slytherin

Extant only in female line[39]

Salazar Slytherin

Tremblay

Bernard Tremblay, Clarisse Tremblay, Falco Tremblay

Tripe

Magenta Black née Tripe

Urquart

Elphinstone Urquart

Weasley

Extant, but no longer all pure-blood

Arthur Weasley, Arthur Weasley's brothers, Bilius,[40] Cedrella Weasley née Black, Charles Weasley, Fred Weasley I, George Weasley, Ginerva Molly Potter née Weasley, Molly Weasley née Prewett, Percy Ignatius Weasley, Ronald Bilius Weasley, Septimus Weasley, William Arthur Weasley

Yaxley

Extant (at least in female line)[41]

Corban Yaxley, Lysandra Black née Yaxley

Possible pure-bloods

Due to their affiliation to Slytherin and Lord Voldemort, many wizards and witches may be considered pure-bloods. Others have openly express their prejudice toward Half-bloods and Muggle-borns, which is another reason to believe they are pure-blood supremacist. Some even become Death Eaters.

See also

Behind the scenes

On J. K. Rowling's draft list of students in Harry Potter's class, the following students were mentioned as pure-bloods:[22]

Coincidentally, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley are all the three types of wizards; Harry being a half-blood, Hermione being Muggle-born, and Ron being a pure-blood.

Many characters mention throughout the series that blood purity doesn't matter, often using Hermione Granger in comparison to Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom as an example. Ron had long struggled with living in the shadows of how much better students his older brothers were, and often would not try if he felt the situation was out of his control. or too difficult, preferring to goof off or play with Chocolate Frog cards (though he did ultimately emerge as a capable student and wizard in his own right). Similarly, despite Neville's pure-blood heritage, he was not initially an extremely talented wizard and also suffered from a lack of confidence, two things which made him a target for ridicule and difficulty, particularly from Professor Snape (but like Ron in his later life he better grasped his full potential). However, Hermione, by contrast, is a supremely gifted witch despite her Muggle-born status and, unlike Ron and Neville, performed very well right from the beginning.
Likewise, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were both often thuggishly stupid and gave poor academic performances in spite of their Pure-Blood status, and Harry's mother Lily was one of her teachers', Horace Slughorn's, all-time favourite students, performing exceptionally well in his and other classes.

The Harry Potter Glossary at Scholastic's official website lists the term "Trueblood" as "Someone born to pure magical parents." This term, however, is not known to have appeared in any official Harry Potter media. The nuance with "pureblood" may be that while the child of a half-blood and a pureblood counts as a pureblood, a trueblood can only be the child of two purebloods. That is however unconfirmed.

The concept of pure-blood is also similar to the real-life situation of nearly all European royal families being related, especially the British and (now extinct) German monarchies. Royals were only allowed to marry another member of the aristocracy, so most of the families were interrelated through marriage. Similarly, the issue of in-breeding is something that ravaged many real life European royal lines.
Likewise, the concept of blood purity, and how if one goes back far enough it is clear there is no such thing, is strongly analogous to real life racial purity attitudes such as those held by White Supremacists and the Nazis (the latter of whom J.K. Rowling explicitly compared to the Death Eaters, as seen below), but also how it is theorised all human being's ancestry can be traced back to Africa (and specifically Ethiopia), thus precluding the idea that "wholly white" lineages could have ever existed.

On the subject of blood purity, J. K. Rowling has said the following:

The expressions 'pure-blood', 'half-blood', and 'Muggle-born' have been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express their originators' prejudice. As far as somebody like Lucius Malfoy is concerned, for instance, a Muggle-born is as 'bad' as a Muggle. Therefore Harry would be considered only 'half' wizard, because of his maternal grandparents. If you think this is far-fetched, look at some of the real charts the Nazis used to show what constituted 'Aryan' or 'Jewish' blood...the Nazis used precisely the same warped logic as the Death Eaters. A single Jewish grandparent 'polluted' the blood, according to their propaganda.[4]

This statement indicates that all of a wizard or witch's grandparents must have magical heritage - i.e. that he or she cannot have a single Muggle or Muggle-born grandparent - in order for him or her to be considered pure-blood. The detailed and lengthy family trees maintained by pure-blood families such as the House of Black maintained a record of all the pure-bloods born and married into the family (as well documenting those who were blasted off to maintain the family's sense of purity).[10]

Appearances

Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 F.A.Q. Section: "Are all the pure-blood families going to die out?" at J. K. Rowling's official site - "Don't forget that, as Sirius revealed in 'Order of the Phoenix', none of these families is really 'pure' - in other words, they merely cross Muggles and Squibs off the family tree and pretend that they didn't exist. But yes, the number of families claiming to be pure is diminishing. By refusing to marry Muggles or Muggle-borns, they are finding it increasingly difficult to perpetuate themselves."1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

2. ↑ 2.0 Writing by J.K. Rowling: "The Malfoy Family" at Wizarding World - "From the imposition of the Statute of Secrecy onwards, no Malfoy has married a Muggle or Muggle-born. The family has, however, eschewed the somewhat dangerous practice of inter-marrying within such a small pool of pure-bloods that they become enfeebled or unstable, unlike a small minority of fanatic families such as the Gaunts and Lestranges, and many a half-blood appears on the Malfoy family tree."2.1 2.2

3. ↑ 4.0 FAQ at J. K. Rowling's official site - "The expressions 'pure-blood', 'half-blood' and 'Muggle-born' have been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express their originators' prejudices. As far as somebody like Lucius Malfoy is concerned, for instance, a Muggle-born is as 'bad' as a Muggle. Therefore Harry would be considered only 'half' wizard, because of his mother's grandparents. If you think this is far-fetched, look at some of the real charts the Nazis used to show what constituted 'Aryan' or 'Jewish' blood. I saw one in the Holocaust Museum in Washington when I had already devised the 'pure-blood', 'half-blood' and 'Muggle-born' definitions, and was chilled to see that the Nazis used precisely the same warped logic as the Death Eaters. A single Jewish grandparent 'polluted' the blood, according to their propaganda."4.1 4.2 4.3

4. ↑ 5.00 Writing by J.K. Rowling: "Pure-Blood" at Wizarding World 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11

5. ↑ 6.0 Black Family Tree by J. K. Rowling 6.1 6.2 6.3

6. ↑ 7.00 House of Black (see this image)7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 7.24 7.25 7.26 7.27 7.28 7.29 7.30 7.31 7.32 7.33 7.34 7.35 7.36 7.37 7.38 7.39 7.40 7.41 7.42 7.43 7.44 7.45 7.46

7. ↑ 9.0 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 9.1 9.2

8. ↑ 10.0 10.1

9. ↑ Black Family Tree Tapestry - Anyone on the tree by birth or marriage, and not disowned, is a pure-blood.

10. ↑ File:Black family tapestry complete.jpg - Disowned for an unknown reason

11. ↑ 22.0 Harry Potter and Me 22.1

12. ↑ Harry Potter and Me (see this image)

13. ↑ Writing by J.K. Rowling: "Draco Malfoy" at Wizarding World - "In childhood, Draco associated mainly with the pure-blood children of his father's ex-Death Eater cronies, and therefore arrived at Hogwarts with a small gang of friends already made, including Theodore Nott and Vincent Crabbe."

14. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3

15. ↑ 31.0 Writing by J.K. Rowling: "Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" at Wizarding World 31.1

16. "↑ Malfoy & Nott" at Extra Stuff at J. K. Rowling's official site

17. ↑ Writing by J.K. Rowling: "Draco Malfoy" at Wizarding World - "In childhood, Draco associated mainly with the pure-blood children of his father's ex-Death Eater cronies, and therefore arrived at Hogwarts with a small gang of friends already made, including Theodore Nott and Vincent Crabbe."

18. The only known member of the Prince family was ↑ Eileen Prince, who had only one child, Severus Snape. Snape died in 1998 without having any children.

19. Slytherin's only known descendants died with the Gaunts and ↑ Tom Riddle.

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Pure-blood is the term for wizarding families who claim to have no Muggles or Muggle-borns in their family tree; however, when traced back far enough, nearly every family tree had some non-magical ancestors.123 Most wizards and witches consider an individual to be a pure-blood if his or her parents and grandparents were not Muggles or Muggle-born.4 By 1995, the number of pure-blood families were declining.

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Do you really want to know my Veritaserum?

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The Aurors - Harry Potter Spin Off TV Promo

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One of our most in-depth and fun projects to date. We took the suspense and thrill of a dark and modern day cop drama and brought it to the magical world of Harry Potter. This was our IGN April Fools Video for 2010. 

- Shot on an Arri Alexa
- Graded in After Effects

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"So it's true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love." - E.A Bucchianeri